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 Bimbo's Initiation, Fleischer Brothers, 1931
"If it can happen in real life, it isn't animation"
-Max Fleischer
I was just walking down the street, minding my own business, and the next thing I remember was some strange bearded men with candles on their heads and holding a contraption that looked like a toilet plunger, imploring me, "Do you want to be a member?"
Then it starts getting really strange!
This cartoon has haunted me since childhood, and is as lively and witty as it was 75 years ago. I wonder how many contemporary cartoons will have this sort of longevity? Max Fleischer was the great innovator, and held patents on basic animation processes all the other studios used (among other things, he invented the rotoscope, did the first sound cartoons, the "bouncing ball" song tunes, early color). Classic rubber animation, great music and sound effects, and a blue-collar, lower east side cultural viewpoint all helped make them innovative and distinctive. But the main thing is they were damned funny!
Here's another one "Banned for gratuitous use of laughing gas."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GguqjtT95k
What the heck were these guys up to?
Recommended reading
Recommended viewing
Unfortunately, there are no definitive Boop collections on DVD yet (shame on you, Hollywood!). Fortunately, most of the early Fleischer stuff is in the public domain and can be found on places like You Tube. The great stuff is pre-1934 (when the Hays office censors de-sexed her). The VHS tape below contains brilliant examples of surrealism. It was volume 3 of an eight volume set; the first two volumes are also very good, forget about the others.
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